Start the Music....I'm back!

Alrighty! My excuse: Anatomy!

July....oh wait, June, was great! We (me, Raul and his Mom) went to USA nationals. They were in Eugene. We saw anyone who is anyone in the track and field world. I got me a cute running shirt and an autograph picture of Galen Rupp (University of Oregon's All American/Olympian). When I came back and showed Raul and Pat (Pole Vault Coach at UW) they were disgusted b.c. UO and UW have a true hate for one another. That is why I didn't bring anything that was too purple just in case I got jumped in Eugene. I've been told that people will yell &$@% the Huskies. We stayed in a great hotel where most of the USA Track peeps were staying. It was fun to wake up and go down to breakfast to only see Sanya Richards (400m) munchin on some eggs and bacon.

Mary's stay was fun. It was nice to have her here. She was a great study buddy, especially on the drive to Eugene and back. She along with the rest of the Idaho family will be here in September. Can't wait! It seems like Raul and I talk about it every day. Our conversations usually start out "When my/your parents come....."

Erin "Tinker" Bell came to visit me. We did lots of Seattle fun stuff like take the bus downtown, shop at the best goodwill in the world (they sell 7's jeans), eat ice cream at Molly Moons, workout, and hit up Ivars for a delightful happy hour with the coaching staff. Thanks Erin for coming.

Then July came......and went but in the middle of it, I went and competed at USA Club Nationals for Track and Field in NY. It was AWESOME. I ran my personal best from college in the hurdles, threw a fantastic shot put, and scored in the jav. We saw some really great things in NY, to name a few: Empire state building (sat at the top), Rockefeller Plaza to see where my friend's Matt, Meredeth, Ann, and Al work, Central Park (my favorite), ate at the first ever pizza place in the US-Lombardi's, saw ground zero, Trinity church where the treasure was buried in National Treasure, St. Patrick's church, rode the subway (EVERYWHERE), went to Soho, "Saw" statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, Battery Park, saw the big stock Market Bull, um....pretty much saw it all. Just like the T-shirt says, I LOVE NY. oh and I got a key chain.

The rest of July has been studying the human body. Going back to school has been very difficult, hats off to Margo for pushing through. Two more weeks left of this bad boy and I will be home free....next will be CNA class, August 10th.

August is going to be busy as well....not only am I starting my CNA course, Marcus (my bro) is coming to visit, and Raul's Friend Casey and Sofie are now are house mates until they find a cozy spot to live in Seattle. And Sara Jo is coming the 8th I am looking forward to lots of fun, food and friends. I hope to post some pictures but I didn't want August to fly by without any sort of update.

Day 1

Hello everyone! I decided to take the plunge and join facebook and I have not been doing my blog but big news....We are at day one of the USA National Track and Field Championships!!! I am so excited....First timer! We will be at Hayward Field all day today....we are in Eugene, Or. More posts and stories to come.

Lifetime Accomplishment

Last Wednesday I threw the shot put and had a lifetime personal best of 38 feet 7 inches. My previous PR was 36'7" set back in 2007. I can't tell you how excited I was. Every Wednesday, the club that I run for hosts a track meet. I threw jav and obviously shot. I am planning to compete in New York for our Club Nationals in July where I will be running the 100m H and 200m, throwing the shot put, javelin and high jumping. I am trying to qualify this Saturday in the 200m and hoping to continue to better my shot. Hope all goes well. I wish Raul was going to be there but he is at NCAA Nationals with the University of Washington making a huge presence as a Husky! Good Job Raul, you have had a great season and it really isn't over yet!!! USA's baby!

Tune in for Saturday updates!

My Project

I have been itching to paint my plain Jane kitchen. The kitchen/house is a remake of 1970's Brady Bunch. With wood paneling and linoleum flooring you are almost taken back in time when peace signs, cannabis and orange shag carpet were the talk of the town. I did a lot of research on what I wanted to do in the kitchen. Update the hardware, paint the cabinets and bring life back to the white washed walls. So I spent all Memorial day weekend PAINTING!!!!! Dark colors do not take as well as lighter paints so I had to put on a few coats for the cabinets. But wait until you see the difference.


Yuck!



This is me cleaning the walls. I think one night Raul and the spaghetti sauce got in a fight and I had missed some remains from the sauce. Gross!





So excited to get rid of the white.



I love you painted Kitchen!

And look who I found taking a break in the bedroom!!!!

This project was lots of work but I am so happy with the result.

I'm In!

Hey ya'll! Just wanted to let you know that I am officially a student again. I am registered, "back to school....got my shoes tied tight....hope I don't get in a fight!"

I am taking Anatomy and refreshing on a Nutrition class.....Homework, tests....here I come!

HGTV Seattle Style

When the weather is nice in Seattle, people come from out of nowhere. It is like a holiday b/c we are so sun deprived. Raul and I had this great idea to build a seating area for our back patio. We also wanted to dress up the backyard a bit with some bigger bushes. So hope you enjoy some of our HOME improvements.

Me, digging a trench for the lattice. Notice I still have my sweatshirt on....Its May!

Ah....so pretty and clean. In the corner we planted a honeysuckle vine that is doing really well and the purple plant is a salvia. She is cute!

About the first of May we went to a plant sale and got a strawberry plant(Sally) and a tomato plant (Tommy). We were keeping them safe and warm until we could figure out what we wanted to do with them. Raul suggested planting Tommy upside down. Doesn't he look healthy?

All the blood is rushing to his head.

Backyard before Raul went to work on it.

Preparing the planter box.

Planting some flowers.

So close!

Instead of helping, Wilson decided he was going to sit in the car and watch out the front window. I came back twenty minutes later only to find him snoozing.

Obviously our biggest helper....Suggie.


Masterpiece! Great job Raul. We have a few more finishing touches but I would say we are about 75% complete.

Three weeks due

Gosh, it has been three weeks since I last posted....where has the time gone? We have had lots of adventures since.

(April 26th) It was a nice Sunday afternoon and Raul and I wanted to go buy a lawn mower and get some Mexican food. As we are traveling through Seattle laughing and enjoying each other's company the Avalanche starts acting up and dies in the middle of the road...on a HILL! Keep in mind the we lose power steering and power breaks...on a HILL, with Traffic. Some how Raul maneuvers the truck to almost fit on the side of the road out of the way. We start trouble shooting the situation and all of our options. After four hours, hungry tummies and a new oil filter, the truck still doesn't start. We called Will to see if he could help. Luckily him and his wife have AAA. So they came and picked us up and took us to the house for further investigation of the broken truck. During those four hours I did a lot of car watching...which is even more fun than just people watching b/c you have both....but I kept thinking, as all these junker cars drove by, "Why are these cars making it up the hill and ours wont even start?"...sigh....belly rumbling. So that Sunday was fun! NOT.


Two days later Raul, Reedus and Will got the truck back in ship top shape. The fuel pump had gone out. Raul and Will were amazing, along with their super electric sarcasm, they had that truck revived in two hours. To contribute, I made dinner and muffins.


(Saturday 5/2) The following weekend, I had my first Junior High Track meet. For those who don't know, I coach at Seattle Country Day School....a school for super smart kids...GIFTED as they like to call themselves. I have about 12 kids on the team and they are tonz of fun. Anyway, of course the weather was typical Sea-Town, Rainy! But my kids were troopers. The meet was pretty big, there were over 600 kids that participated in the meet...from grades 4th-8th. Lots of munchkins running around. The concession stand was a huge line for the entire meet. I guess sugar keeps the little people going.

(Sunday 5/3) We went to the Vault/Multi coach's house and played beach volleyball in his back yard. Now when I pictured Pat's house I thought a little net, in the grass by the BBQ with the net doubling as a badminton net. Boy was I wrong. This was the King of King's court. They had sand brought over from the OR coast, tons of AVP balls, a super awesome net and it was surrounded by a batting cage net so if balls flew, they didn't fly far. It was a blast! We played for about 3 hours and then roasted "Healthy" hot dogs and s'mores on the fire. I felt like I was back with the Girl Scouts.


(Sometime in the last two weeks) I decided that I was going to do something nice and surprise Raul by mowing the lawn. I walked over to my neighbors house and borrowed his mower well it was super low on gas. I went and got a gallon of gas and started filling it up...only to notice that I was not putting the gas in the right hole...I was putting it into the OIL....crap! So as I frantically start running around the neighborhood like a crazy lady "Screaming, I broke Micheal's mower" my neighbors (three of them) come over to help me. We dumped the mower upside down and drained it, put new oil in it, gas in the gas tank and the mower worked like a champ and my lawn was nice and short. What an idiot. Raul was golfing so when I called and told him I'm sure he thought to himself.."How has my girlfriend made it through life this far?" I just think it builds character. Lots of it! So....that was fun! NOT.


And yesterday I had my first track meet....for those who don't know, I am competing again. I ran hurdles and did high jump. It was a great day. The sun was shinning, I made it through ten hurdles (I was really nervous about that, its been two years) and I cleared 5'1" and had great jumps at 5'3" from a short approach. Plus I got a bunch of new gear from Club Northwest (the team that I am on) and sported it at the meet. My next meet is going to be May 27th....that is the start of the 47th annual All-Comers Meets.


I was waiting to post some pictures with this but I have to get it up...sorry. Just use your imagination.